The conspiracy, to my mind, was unethical, unnecessary, and dangerous. One consequence was that the RJD’s seats were artificially boosted, since it was the principal gainer of the 38 seats that the JD(U) lost

xI have often wondered why in the 2020 elections, the BJP used Chirag Paswan as a Trojan horse to downsize its own alliance partner, Nitish Kumar and the Janata Dal (United). In that election, Chirag, calling himself the ‘Hanuman’ of Narendra Modi, fielded his party — the LJP (RV) — solely targeting the JD(U)’s candidates. This led to an estimated loss of 38 seats for the JD(U), reducing it to a rump of 43 seats, much below BJP’s 74, which became by far the senior partner.

I remember meeting Nitish Kumar after this. I was then no longer a part of the JD(U). A year earlier, both Pras

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